Congress should pass legislation that will protect Postal Service

Friday

Nov 15, 2013 at 2:00 PM

Each day, Americans witness the slow pace of Congress and how meaningful actions are delayed. I am discouraged by lawmakers who insist on dismantling the U.S. Postal Service and mail processing facilities. The Postal Service is critical in delivering mail, medicine and packages at a good price. Why would anyone want to downsize a network that can serve every home and business in the country?

I rely on the Postal Service at home and at work. I witness the important work of its employees. Sens. Tom Carper and Tom Coburn have co-authored Senate Bill 1486, which would destroy 80,000 jobs nationwide and harm 7.5 million Americans whose companies rely on the Postal Service, according to estimates from the American Postal Workers.

The Postal Service is supported not by taxpayer dollars but by consumers. It loses an estimated $5 billion annually, a loss directly attributable to a 2006 congressional mandate requiring that it pre-fund retirement for future retirees for 75 years in advance. No other government agency or private company is required to do this; if they were, they could not sustain themselves financially.

This pre-funding requirement is unfair and paints a false image of the Postal Service.

I am writing my members of Congress to repeal this unfair requirement and protect the service standards that will keep our post offices and processing centers open and allow for new services.

I am asking them to co-sponsor the Postal Service Protection Act (House Resolution 630, Senate Resolution 316) and the Protect Overnight Delivery Act (HR 2459) because these are bipartisan solutions that are designed to preserve six-day delivery and to preserve the USPS' ability to handle and deliver large volumes of mail in a timely, cost-effective fashion.